Vuelo Libre
by Princess-Leasel
Summary: Gibbs is looking at his boat and remembering a promise he made to his wife. KateGibbs.Warning Character death.


**Vuelo Libre**

Gibbs stood on the marine looking at his boat. Finally he has finished it. It was perfect. All those night he would stay down there working on it. All those nights him and Kate would lay on the work bench imagining what it would like to be out on the water, the waves gently rocking the boat, looking up at the starry sky.

He remembers her laying in his arms one night. He was watching her when her face lit up.  
"Jethro, I can feel her. She just kicked me!" She had told him as she took his hand and rested it on her stomach. Gibbs felt it too.  
Their baby. He told her they would be able to tell their child of the first time they felt her kick. It was in their basement under the boat. She had laughed at that.  
Gibbs had promised he was going to do everything in his power to finish this boat before their baby came.  
And he did. He worked and worked while Kate got bigger and bigger.  
He remembers siting, looking at his boat one night while drinking a glass of scotch, thinking 'One month. That's all you have to finish this.' And he was going to do it. This would be his present to his new born child and beautiful wife. He felt a huge burst of strength inside him as he thought about it. Within hours, that strength was gone.

He had heard Kate calling his name from upstairs. She sounded desperate. He ran up to find her on the floor curled up in a ball screaming in pain. He called the ambulance.  
He remembers watching a doctor walk towards him, telling him they had to deliver the baby. Assuring him he was going to take every precaution. He remembers demanding to know what was wrong with his wife. The doctor just shaking his head and telling him he didn't know, but to have hope. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't find any hope. His gut was telling him something was wrong. And he was right. He saw the doctor walking towards him, his face unreadable. He knew something had gone wrong.  
His whole world was spinning when the doctor approached him and told him he had a beautiful baby girl who was in good health. He had asked about Kate, knowing the answer before the doctor had said a word. 'Im sorry. She didn't make it. We did everything we could.' Those words echoed in his head. He remembered demanding to see her.  
She just lay there. So beautiful. He couldn't take it any more. He broke down into a sea of tears. Kissing her forehead he just held her, never wanting to let go. "I love you Kate."

Rubbing his hand along the side of the boat he thought about how long the boat had stayed down in the basement. He never went down there. The memories of her would be too strong. But one day he had come in form the back yard and couldn't find Natalie, his daughter. He saw the basement door open just a little. He didn't want to go down there but he heard Natalie's voice coming up the stairs.  
'If your happy and you know it clap your hands.' She sung loudly.  
He found her sitting on the end of the work bench swing her legs. She looked just like her mother. He remembered Kate sitting there laughing at him as he attempted to work on his boat while she would do everything she could to distract him. He watched as Natalie stood up and inspected the boat. Her long brown hair swinging from side to side as she started climbing all over the boat. He remembers feeling Kate with them that day. He wanted to finish the boat, for her, for all of them.

He ran his fingers over the engravings in the side on the boat.  
**Vuelo Libre  
**Flying Free. That's what they were doing now.

"Daddy, I wanna take da boat out pleaze." Natalie asked with a huge smile on her face.  
Gibbs smiled. "Lets go baby." Even thought Kate wasn't with them he could always feel her spirit around him and Natalie. He closed his eyes and imaged her standing next to him.

"You've done good Jethro. Natalie's more than anything I ever imaged, and you finished our boat."  
"I love you." He whispered. Opening his eyes he saw Kate standing over Natalie. He blinked and she was gone.

XxPrincess-LeaselxX


End file.
